Rental Family
Rental Family
Stars: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman and Akira Emoto
Director: Hikari
Scriptwriters: Hikari and Stephen Blahut
Composer: Jonsi and Alex Somers
Cinematography: Takuro Ishizaka
Domo Arigato Productions/Searchlight Pictures
Rating: PG 13
Running Length: 110 Minutes
Brendan Fraser certainly made a hit with his performance in “The Whale,” Versatility is his highlight and it continues in “Rental Family.” Here he plays different people for a company that provides for that extra person to be in the scenario. For example, in “Rental Family,” one of his acting characters is that of a father to a young girl so she can be enrolled in an exclusive school. Another is being in the group of a deceased. person to have a larger funeral. However, Fraser (playing Phillip Vanderpleog) has a tendency to get too close to the groups he is in. Hmm, wonder what happens next? Director Hikari along with co-writer Stephen Blahut, has nice twists and turns in their script.
We begin with Phillip (Fraser) living in Japan. Coming from a job about tooth paste, he then goes to a funeral only to find out it is fake and a trial run. Next, he is hired by a wealthy woman (Shino Shinozaki) who has a daughter named Mia (Shannon Gorman) to pose as the girl’s father. This is so she can get into an exclusive school. At the same time, he portrays a newspaper man who interviews an elderly actor, Kikuo (Akira Emoto) who teeters on the brink of memory loss. As you can see, Phillip is a busy man. Things don’t always go as planned with the father/daughter plan or with the aging actor. What to do?
In an age where many people connect by electronics, it is interesting to see a person connect via actually being with the person, or finding a way of communication that honors both. This is well done by the actors, with a gentle warmth that the audience can feel. At this, Bredan Fraser is very good, and so is the young girl who portrays the girl without a father figure. Shannon Gorman takes the role and goes with it showing the audience a girl who is intelligent yet who to trust at her age? Adults seem to be absent for her. Add a third actor, Akira Emoto as Kikuo, also a client, and a retired actor with a personal history to detail. Time is moving fast for Kikuo and actor Akira Emoto does this well.
“Rental Family” is a friendly film that details the lives of those without a warm companionship to have Buying one is one answer, but then, as pointed out, they go, you go and that is it. The other is holding on to that new friendship and go forth on your own, knowing that is always someone there you have as a friend. The real center of ‘Rental Family” is Brendan Fraser who, with a gentle touch and smile, wends his way through the assignments given him and brings warmth to the characters in the film and to the audience.
Copyright 2025 Marie Asner
